Treatment outcome of female agoraphobics 3-9 years after exposure in vivo: a comparison with healthy controls.

It is well documented that most agoraphobics, with or without panic disorder, respond to exposure in vivo. But only little data compared their anxiety levels at follow-up (FU) with those of healthy controls. Forty-two female agoraphobics with or without panic disorder participated in FUs 3-9 years after exposure in vivo. Agoraphobic symptoms were compared to data of 42 healthy controls, who were matched according to gender, age, marital and occupational status. Remission criteria were defined from agoraphobia scores of the controls. A total of 17 (40%) of the patients had no further agoraphobic symptoms at all. A total of 15 (36%) patients still had mild-to-moderate agoraphobic symptoms at FU. A total of 10 (24%) were non-responders and suffered from severe agoraphobia at FU. The percentage of treated patients with complete remission is much higher than previously reported. However, the majority still suffer from mild or severe agoraphobic symptoms and could possibly benefit from additional interventions.